Microsoft SMB Community Blog

Use WPC Connect today to connect with your peers and Microsoft at Worldwide Partner Conference

2009-07-02T20:20:37Z

Earlier today in my, “Connect with your peers in the Yellow Lounge at Worldwide Partner Conference,” post, I mentioned how one of the greatest values Partners tell us they get from conferences such as #wpc09 is the peer to peer and Partner to Microsoft connections they make while at the conference. To help foster this and make it even easier for you to make these invaluable connections, we have WPC Connect available to all attendees, and here is a quick overview (click images for full size) on how you can make connections right now using WPC Connect:

Log on to Digital WPC and click on “Connect” (you will be prompted to sign in with your Windows Live ID if you haven’t yet).
Click on WPC Connect & then Click on My Opt-In Status
Select Yes & Click on Save

Now, let’s update your profile so that others can find you more effectively and so that people know more about you when you request a meeting with them:

Click on WPC Connect Click on My Profile
Review and Update your profile information to enable others to connect with you Click Update

That’s it! You are read to start scheduling sessions!

Don’t hesitate any longer. Get out to the Digital WPC site today and opt in to WPC Connect so that you can start setting up your connections for next week’s #WPC09! I look forward to seeing you there.

Also, be sure to catch up on some of the pre-WPC networking taking place already by joining WPC09 on Facebook or following #WPC09 on Twitter or on LinkedIn.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Connect with your peers in the Yellow Lounge at Worldwide Partner Conference

2009-07-02T14:29:59Z

For the past few years at Worldwide Partner Conference, SBSC Partners from around the world have been gathering in the Yellow Lounge to meet and network with their peers. This year, the famous Yellow Lounge is back again at #WPC09!

Once again, you will be able to get together with your peers and people from Microsoft to catch up, make new connections, hang out, talk shop, or just kick back and relax. Every year, one of the highest rated parts of Worldwide Partner Conference is the networking opportunities Partners have with other Partners from around the world. The Yellow Lounge is a place dedicated to the SMB Partners to provide just that.

As always, I will be passing through and spending a fair amount of time in the Yellow Lounge to meet and interact with SMB and SBSC Partners from all over the world, so please stop by and introduce yourself if you get the chance. It’s always great to meet and talk with all of you each year at Worldwide Partner Conference. I can tell you for sure that I will be in the Yellow Lounge from 5:00 – 6:00 on Tuesday and 4:00 – 5:00 on Thursday. Also, you are more than welcome to join me for either of the sessions I am hosting at #WPC09:

This year, you can find the Yellow Lounge on the second floor of the Convention Center in Room 214. Here is a map (click to enlarge) to see where it is located.

Also, be sure to catch up on some of the pre-WPC networking taking place already by joining WPC09 on Facebook or following #WPC09 on Twitter or on LinkedIn.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Join me for “Strengthen Your Business by Helping Your Customers Save Time and Get Organized” at Worldwide Partner Conference

2009-07-01T15:46:35Z

From 2:00 – 3:00 PM on Tuesday, July 14^th at Worldwide Partner Conference, I have the pleasure of hosting the, “SMB003 Strengthen Your Business by Helping Your Customers Save Time and Get Organized” session, which will be in rooms 218 & 219. Joining me will be Elisabeth Vanderveldt and Robert L'Esperance from Conamex International, Chris Rue from Black Warrior Technology, and Arnold Bogaards, Sr. Marketing Manager at Microsoft. During this session, you will hear from SMB Partners citing customer stories about obstacles they have faced in the current economy that inhibit collaboration, information management, and staying connected and how they have driven successful engagements and solutions for them. You will also hear tips and advice how you can build your business by becoming--or strengthening your role as--a trusted advisor to your customers, while helping your customers resolve their key pain points.

In this session, Arnold will be discussing trends and market data from the SMB segments and where some key opportunities lie for growing your businesses. Then, Andy will be sharing a wealth of insight and knowledge on how he has built a very successful business servicing the SMB market and how that vision continues with the next wave of innovation coming. In addition, he will share tips and guidance on key learnings he has discovered that you too can put into practice in your businesses starting right away, including ways to cope with the ever changing financial climate we all face today.

Be sure to add this session to your schedule for Tuesday, July 14^th, as I believe you will thoroughly enjoy what Chris, Elisabeth, and Robert have to share, hearing about how they have built his businesses, and how you can adopt many of these same practices in your businesses to serve the needs of your clients. You see more about this session on the WPC09 Sessions Page by searching on SMB003. You can also learn more about Worldwide Partner Conference on the Digital WPC page.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Pre-order Windows 7 at more than a 50% discount for a limited time only!

2009-06-26T17:35:00Z

Limited time offer, just launched today! As a way of saying thank you to our loyal Windows customers, we are excited to introduce a special time limited offer! We will offer people in select markets the opportunity to pre-order Windows 7 at a more than 50% discount. In the US, this will mean you can pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium for USD $49.99 or Windows 7 Professional for USD $99.99. You can take advantage of this special offer online via select retail partners, or the online Microsoft Store (in participating markets).

This program begins today in the U.S., Canada and Japan. The offer ends July 11th in the U.S. and Canada and on July 5th for Japan or while supplies last. Customers in the UK, France and Germany, can pre-order their copy of Windows 7 starting July 15th and will run until August 14th (or supplies last) to ensure folks don’t miss out on this. Act fast if you want to be the first in line to get Windows 7 at this screaming deal! Note: The special low pre-order price will vary per country.

For more information on this special pre-order offer, click here.

This offer was recently discussed by Brad Brooks, Corporate VP for Windows Consumer Marketing, in this interview:

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Get Windows 7 at NO COST when you buy a PC with qualifying Windows Vista on it starting today!

2009-06-26T16:15:04Z

Announcing the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program! Starting today, June 26^th, the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program kicks off. Through this offer, anyone who buys a PC from a participating OEM or retailer with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate on it will all receive an upgrade to the corresponding version of Windows 7 at no cost from Microsoft. The Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program will be available until January 31, 2010 – and is global! For more information on taking advantage of the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program, visit www.windows.com/upgradeoffer.

This offer was recently discussed by Brad Brooks, Corporate VP for Windows Consumer Marketing, in this interview:

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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del.icio.us Tags: This offer was recently discussed by Brad Brooks,Corporate VP for Windows Consumer Marketing,on the Windows Team Blog in this interview:

Join me for “Help Your Customers Reduce IT Costs and Risks and Strengthen Your Business” at Worldwide Partner Conference

2009-06-26T14:54:00Z

From 5:00 – 6:00 PM on Monday, July 13^th at Worldwide Partner Conference, I have the pleasure of hosting the, “SMB002 Help Your Customers Reduce IT Costs and Risks and Strengthen Your Business” session, which will be in rooms 218 & 219. Joining me will be Andy Trish, founder of NCI Technologies out of the UK, SBS MVP, and SBSC PAL, and Arnold Bogaards, Sr. Marketing Manager at Microsoft. During this session, we will be talking about simplifying client’s IT environment, minimizing network disruptions, and keeping important data highly secure. Hear current IT pain points for SMB customers and learn from Andy, a leading Partner, how you can build your business by becoming--or strengthening your role as--a trusted advisor to your customers, while helping your customers resolve their key pain points.

In this session, Arnold will be discussing trends and market data from the SMB segments and where some key opportunities lie for growing your businesses. Then, Andy will be sharing a wealth of insight and knowledge on how he has built a very successful business servicing the SMB market and how that vision continues with the next wave of innovation coming, such as with Windows 7 (including a demo), virtualization, SBS 2008, EBS 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2. In addition, he will share tips and guidance on key learnings he has discovered that you too can put into practice in your businesses starting right away, including ways to cope with the ever changing financial climate we all face today.

Be sure to add this session to your schedule for Monday, July 13^th, as I believe you will thoroughly enjoy what Andy has to share, hearing about how he has built his business, and how you can adopt many of these same practices in your businesses to serve the needs of your clients. You see more about this session on the WPC09 Sessions Page by searching on SMB002. You can also learn more about Worldwide Partner Conference on the Digital WPC page.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Congratulations to the “Driving Small Business Success” SBSC Contest Winners!

2009-06-25T14:06:02Z

Back in December, we kicked off the “Driving Small Business Success” contest for SBSC Partners in the U.S., which was this year’s version of the SBSC “Partner Plunge” contest that we ran last year, which was won by Wade DeVore and the folks at NetVision. (This was the contest that landed us in the middle of nowhere!) For this year’s “Driving Small Business Success” contest, SBSC Partners again submitted case studies of successes they had helping small businesses through technology and Microsoft solutions, then the best of the best were sorted out and the winners were chosen.

It is my pleasure to congratulate this year’s SBSC “Driving Small Business Success” contest winners:

GRAND PRIZE Winner: Carl Mazzanti—eMazzanti Technologies—Hoboken, NJ
- Prize: smart fortwo passion coupe plus a 3 day/2 night VIP trip for winner and up to nine (9) guests to a NASCAR race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama.
First Place Winner (A): Stephen Hall—District Computers, LLC—Silver Spring, MD
- Prize: smart fortwo passion coupe and up to ten (10) Microsoft Small Business Specialist Jackets for their team members
First Place Winner (B): Jim Rutledge—CCS Business Solutions, Inc.—Canton, OH
- Prize: smart fortwo passion coupe and up to ten (10) Microsoft Small Business Specialist Jackets for their team members.
Second Place Winner: Wade DeVore—Netvision Consulting, Inc.—Arlington, TX
- Prize: Intel® vPro™ Technology Small Form Factor Business PC, and an Intel® Entry Storage System SS4200-EHW PC, plus up to ten (10) Microsoft Small Business Specialist jackets.
Third Place Winner: Matt Scherocman—PCMS Datafit, Inc.—Cincinnati, OH
- Prize: Intel® Centrino® 2 with vPro™ Technology Notebook PC, plus up to ten (10) Microsoft Small Business Specialist jackets.
Fourth Place Winner: Christopher Rue—Black Warrior Technology, LLC—Northport, AL
- Prize: Two (2) full attendee passes to SMB Nation Fall Conference Oct. 2-4, Las Vegas, NV
Fifth Place Winner: Peter Perry—Soaring Eagle Computer Services, Inc.—Chicago, IL
- Prize: One (1) full attendee pass to the SMB Nation Fall Conference, October 2–4, Las Vegas, NV

Big congratulations to Carl and eMazzanti Technologies for their Grand Prize winning effort in this year’s contest, as well as to all of our winners! Plus, thank you to all of you who not only took the time to submit your success stories and share them with us, but also for the amazing solutions you are providing to your clients in the SMB market every day.

While I know that Wade and everyone at NetVision was shooting to pull the repeat this year, still a fantastic effort in following up on the Grand Prize win last year with another winning submission this year! Way to go! And Chris, while I know you REEEEEAAAAAALLLLLLY wanted to get the Talladega trip, still a great job on the fourth place finish. Looking forward to our joint presentation at Worldwide Partner Conference this year!

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Congratulations to the 2009 WPC Award Winners!

2009-06-24T23:33:42Z

Thank you to all of the Microsoft Partners who submitted entries into the WPC 2009 Awards Program and congratulations to the finalists and award winners! We had over 2,000 amazing entries this year, so you can imagine what it was like working through and selecting the finalists and ultimately the winners of each of the 69 awards. In the end though, we worked through all of the entries and determined the winning Partners who have developed exemplary solutions for their customers during the past year, and demonstrated the ability to optimize their use of Microsoft technologies to meet critical business needs.

You can access the winners and finalists from each category by clicking it below, and there is also a complete list of winners and finalists on the WPC awards page.

Congratulations to all of the finalists and winners and thank you to all of the Partners who submitted entries for the awards this year. I look forward to seeing you all at Worldwide Partner Conference in just a few short weeks now!

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Download the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Migration Checklist today

2009-06-24T19:52:32Z

How many of you have clients that are looking to migrate to Windows Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008) from Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS 2003)? How many of you have been trying to locate a document that helps you plan out the steps and find the resources available to help you through that process? Well, let me see if I can help.

Today we posted up the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Migration Checklist that you can download and use to help move your clients from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008. This checklist is meant to be used as a quick guide to other tools and in-depth documents to help enable you to be able to complete your migrations successfully for your customers.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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FREE laptop contest ends in 2 days! Are you entered?

2009-06-24T13:42:00Z

Here’s a quick reminder for all of you that the submission deadline for the FREE Dell Latitude E4300 Windows 7 Laptop contest that Microsoft is running ends in just 2 days! That means that if you have not submitted your entry into the contest prior to then, your chances to participate in this contest will be gone. So carve out some time over the next 48 hours and get your submissions in.

Good luck to all of you in the contest!

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Windows 7 – Your time is almost up!

2009-06-23T20:34:00Z

Here are some very important updates on timing that you need to be aware of with Windows 7, so take a moment and read through these points:

1) For those of you that took advantage of the Windows 7 Beta download - You need to move to the Windows 7 Release Candidate and fast. Starting July 1^st, the Beta will start to reboot every 2 hrs and expire Aug 1^st.

2) For those of you that want to download the Windows 7 Release Candidate, now is the time to do it! Why? Because the Windows 7 Release Candidate download program closes August 15th. After that, you won’t be able to get the download, but you can still install the Release Candidate (if you downloaded it already) and get a key if you need one. (To get a key, just go to the Downloads page and follow the instructions.)

Are you using the Windows 7 Release Candidate already? If so, the team would love to hear back from you on your thoughts about it. Go to http://input.microsoft.com and tell them what you think.

Be sure to take care of those important items noted above before the deadline dates! If you know of others in either of those situations, please be sure to share this information with them as well. So come August 16^th, none of you should be saying, “I wish I had known!” or “You didn’t tell me!”

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview – How you can get it

2009-06-18T19:33:00Z

Microsoft Office 2010, the next version of the Microsoft productivity suite, is coming. With it will be new capabilities and enablers for people everywhere. So, how would you like to be one of the people who get the Technical Preview of Office 2010, with access to the pre-release versions of Word 2010, Excel 2010, Outlook 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, Access 2010, InfoPath 2010 and Publisher 2010? Here’s your chance…

Head on out to the “Office 2010 The Movie” website today and access the items they have up there, including:

	The “Office 2010 The Movie” video trailer
	The Microsoft Office Backstage Interview
	The Microsoft Office 2010 Online Forum - a place to discuss the Office 2010 Technical Preview program and other information around the new version of Office.
	The Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview Registration page, where you can sign up for consideration to be invited into the Technical Preview Program. We will be notifying invitees in early to mid July, so don’t wait.
	Plus more…

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Beta Released and Now Available to Download

2009-06-18T16:09:10Z

Here is some very exciting news, whether you used the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit in the past or not. The Version 4.0 Beta of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit is now available!

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit is an integrated planning toolkit that makes it easier for Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify what servers, workstations, and network devices are in their IT environment. This agent less and scalable toolkit has the ability to discover all computers within Active Directory and workgroup environments. It performs key functions that include hardware and device inventory, hardware compatibility analysis, and generation of actionable, environment-specific IT proposals for migration to most major Microsoft technologies.

What’s New with v4.0?

Version 4.0 of this toolkit has the following new features:

Windows 7 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
Windows Server 2008 R2 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
Virtualization Candidates Assessment for Hyper-V R2 Server Consolidation
Integration with the Microsoft Integrated Virtualization ROI Calculator
Inventory of VMware Server Hosts and Guests
User Interface and Proposal Customization for Partner co-branding
Enhanced Usability and Improved Inventory Performance

Additional Features

Other features from version 3.2 have also been carried over to version 4.0:

Virtualization Candidates Assessment for Hyper-V Server Consolidation
Windows Vista Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
Windows Server 2008 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
2007 Microsoft Office Readiness Assessment
SQL Server Instance Discovery
Desktop Security Assessment for Anti-virus and Anti-malware Programs Installation
Forefront Client Security/NAP Readiness Assessment
Online Services (Exchange Online) Assessment
App-V Infrastructure Readiness Assessment
Power Savings “Green IT” Calculator

Benefits to Customers and Partners

Saves Planning or Pre-Sales Time. For most IT consultants and Microsoft Partners, a detailed network inventory and assessment of servers and desktops often takes days of manual labor. With Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, you can now conduct an environment inventory of up to 100,000 computers in a matter of hours instead of days, giving you extra time to focus on critical planning or pre-sales tasks. For IT professionals, this toolkit can significantly reduce the time it takes to gather the information necessary to make the business case for client, server, and virtualization projects.

Provides Actionable Recommendations and Reporting. This toolkit provides valuable inventory and readiness assessment reports with environment-specific upgrade recommendations and virtualization candidate reports, making it easier for IT migration and deployment projects to get off the ground and running.

Covers Wide Range of Scenarios--from Desktops to Servers. This toolkit offers technology assessments and planning recommendations for many Microsoft desktop and server products including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V R2, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, 2007 Microsoft Office, SQL Server 2008, Forefront Client Security, Network Access Protection, Microsoft Online Services, Microsoft Application Virtualization (or App-V), and more.

Next Steps--How can I get Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Beta?

Download Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Beta and give us your feedback (Live ID login and registration required)
View the Webcast on MAP Toolkit 4.0 Beta (use Recording Key: fqX`%3t.X)
Learn more about this toolkit and read case studies on TechNet
To provide technical feedback on this Beta, please e-mail at MAPSBETA@microsoft.com
Get the latest news from the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit Team Blog

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Download: Comparison chart between Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows XP SP3

2009-06-18T14:04:26Z

As you look at Windows 7 through things like the Windows 7 Release Candidate, the Windows 7 learning portal, or any of the other many Windows 7 Resources out there, one question you might have (since I have heard it from some other Partners as well) is, “Is there a quick cheat sheet type reference showing some of the differences between Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP geared towards the IT Professional?” Well, yes there is.

We have a Windows Client Feature Comparison Chart that has a side-by-side comparison of Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows XP SP3 that you can download and use. It’s a quick, one-page comparison that shows features in such categories as: File Organization and Search, Remote Access, Security & Compliance, Management, and Deployment, comparing the three Windows Operating Systems to each other.

I hope this one-page comparison document is helpful for you in looking at the comparison between some of the features of the three Windows Desktop Operating Systems.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

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Replay availability of Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode Webcast for Partners

2009-06-17T21:53:00Z

Back on May 13^th, I blogged about the upcoming Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode webcast for Partners that we were hosting to talk about this very exciting differentiator within Windows 7. Since then, I have been receiving multiple requests about whether or not this session was recorded, and if so, where Partners could view it at. Given the number of requests I have received and the high level of interest around this topic, I thought I would put a quick post up here letting everyone know how to access the replay of this session.

For anyone interested in viewing this session on demand, you can register here and access the recording.

As an FYI, in the original Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode – Webcast for Partners blog post I put up, I have changed the original “Register” link in the post to now point to the replay registration link as well in case you end up there again at some point.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
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